Observations of Real Fiction
by SomewhereBeyondReality
Summary: "To him, they belong in the pages of a book: a reflection of the fictional stories he sells and breathes." Andrew thinks back on the Gilmore Girls and their Diner Boys: Lit and JavaJunkie!
1. Chapter 1

**Hmm, so I decided to try my hand at a third person perspective on Literati and JavaJunkie. I figured Andrew would be pretty interesting because he's just one of those Stars Hollow citizens always floating in the background, so has probably seen a lot more than anyone realizes. (Plus he owns a bookshop, so that automatically makes him cool). **

**X-X**

'_Truth is stranger than fiction. Life maybe imitates art.' – U2 _

Outsiders sometimes ask why Andrew stayed in Stars Hollow. He did ok at school, he went to College: why didn't he leave to work in the real world? They can't see the appeal – quaint gazebos, crazy festivals and all – of his hometown.

They don't understand that he doesn't_ want _to work in the real world and Stars Hollows is as far from reality as you can get.

Because Andrew's a bookworm, he prefers literature to real life: So Stars Hollow with its fairy tale existence and head-in-the-clouds citizens is where he belongs.

Over time he's seen plenty of fantasy-like relationships play out but none compare to that of the Gilmore girls and their Diner boys.

While all of Stars Hollow's gave a running commentary on Luke, Lorelai, Jess and Rory, Andrew knows the way he sees the four of them is different.

To him, they belong in the pages of a book. He's read so much that the two relationships seem more like literary tales, a reflection of the fictional stories he sells and breathes.

In his mind, they tick a list: fulfilling factors that create epic romances.

**X-X**

**I know this is only an intro chapter (it will eventually be a two shot) but still...Give me an R! Give me a E! Give me a V! Give me an I, E, W! **

**And what does that spell? (People on here are normally good at English, spelling ect. So I hope you all know). **


	2. Chapter 2: Luke and Lorelai

**X-X**

_Factor One: Instant sparks –Instant Connection_

He was reading in Luke's (trying to ignore Miss Paddy's and Babette's cackling) when they first met.

No one else noticed anything unusual – she was just another customer badgering Luke for coffee.

But as the two bickered Andrew felt something shift: like the world was adjusting its axis to cater to a new force. It reminded him of the original legend of Aladdin; when the all-mighty powers of the Genie disturbed the all the planes of magic and convention so he could marry the Princess.

Clearly, the bond between the chirpy inn manager and grumpy diner owner had potential greater than anyone imagined.

**X-X**

_Factor Two: A good build up_

Many disagree but in Andrew's mind _really _good romances are the result of time. I mean sure there were the Love-At-First-Sight types but development was better.

So – before and after the rest of Stars Hollow caught on – he watched the oblivious Luke and Lorelai.

He saw them grow from bickering strangers to casual acquaintances, steady friends and finally comrades in arms with more than an edge of denial about something deeper. It was like having a modern Beatrice and Benedict in town.

Like their Shakespeare doppelgangers they were good entertainment, but as the years (and Rachel, Max, Chris, Alex, Nicole and Jason) passed by, he began to imagine the explosion their eventual confession would make.

He was sure it would be spectacular.

**X-X**

_Factor Three: Momentary Bliss _

It wasn't deliberate but Kirk was pretty noisy next door, so (hoping he'd shut up soon) Andrew crept downstairs to get some water.

And saw the two of them. Standing together. In the door. _Kissing._

He wondered if the Friar was struck dumb when he saw Romeo and Juliet together because Andrew had been right: It _was _spectacular.

And they went on being spectacular.

He'd known Lorelai since she first fled to Stars Hollow and never, in all her relationships had she been as happy as she was with Luke.

Yes there was always that first stage of giddy infatuation but with the two of them it went deeper. He might even label it _Joy. _

Despite the towns protest and their personal baggage; just being together was enough to set off metaphorical sparklers everywhere.

**X-X**

_Factor Four: Differences _

Of course, no great romance was without conflict.

As Luke and Lorelai quickly blossomed from initial puppy love to a more stable status, past demons reared up in paradise.

Lorelai's parents, Emily and Richard and of course, Christopher.

It was cliché to the extreme: The uptown girl falling for the blue collared worker, while well bred parents looked on in disapproval and tried to force a 'suitable' match. It went back to Scottish folklore he'd read; the Lairds Lass and the Smiths Son.

Although he didn't hear what sparked the 'blue ribbon-pink ribbon' situation everyone knew that Emily and Richard disapproved of their daughter's choices. Despite the fact Lorelai had run away from the upper class life years before and Luke wasn't exactly languishing in a peasant's hut the snobby mindset was still there.

The two worked it out eventually but the issues didn't vanish. Christopher especially was remained present, lurking in the background as a symbol of the odds.

**X-X**

_Factor Five: Break up _

To be fair it wasn't the Gilmore's fault that Luke and Lorelai broke off the engagement. While Christopher played a part April was the biggest issue.

Romances always included some sort of fight but that was never Andrew's favourite part. It always seemed silly to him: obvious soul mates separating because of misunderstanding. Like Elizabeth and Darcy: needlessly driving each other apart.

Unfortunately reality mirrored all of literature, including the bad points.

Luke and Lorelai's second break up was much worse than their first. He saw them frequently: arguing in the supermarket, the street and each encounter had a terrible edge of _permanence _about it.

But Andrew didn't say anything while everyone else mourned for the-marriage-that-never-was because the biggest part of him refused to believe it was over.

**X-X **

_Factor Six: Separation_

Analyzing fictional characters was good practice for real life so reading Chris was easy.

He was nice enough: charming, rich and a load of other things no one cared about.

He just didn't fit in Stars Hollow.

Honestly, he didn't fit _Lorelai. _Andrew knew about compatibility: they were too similar and too different at the same time. Both of them were spontaneous, wild and impulsive but while he wanted to live in outside world, Lorelai belonged in Stars Hollow.

Then of course there was Luke, who –like Brandon to Marianne – refused to be forgotten in the background. It was all around town how Chris had discovered the character reference and undeniable evidence that he would never be the Gilmore man.

And after Chris was gone, Luke naturally slipped back into Lorelai's life as if he never left.

**X-X**

_Factor Seven: Reunion_

The reconciliation was gradual of course: Andrew was in the diner when Lorelai came in for breakfast, overheard Luke talking through the hay bale maze and everyone saw the kiss at Rory's goodbye party.

Did Penelope give up on Odysseus? Would a couple that waited eight years for the first kiss really be put off by a few months?

That wasn't the stuff epics were made of.

**X-X**

_Factor Eight: Happy-Ever-After _

The story of their second engagement became a Stars Hollow legend.

The two had gone out to a fancy restaurant where Luke planned to propose. (He tried so hard to be romantic). Unfortunately the truck had broken down in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal.

Lorelai then wandered off into the woods to find help and fell into some mud which meant Luke had to wade in and 'rescue' her, (well at least that was a heroic gesture) causing the ring to fall out of his jacket pocket and blow the whole plan.

So Lorelai said yes while she was standing knee deep in mud, he was covered in engine oil and they were stranded at the side of the a pitch black road.

Thankfully the wedding ran more smoothly: It took place in spring, less than a year after the Bon Voyage party. They said their vows in the gazebo (Richard and Emily gave Lorelai away, Martha, April, Sookie and Mia acted as bridesmaids, Rory as Maid of Honour, Jess as an awkward best man) and finished the reception at the Dragon Fly.

It was dubious when the story finished properly but after William II was born (Who, even for a honeymoon baby was a bit off the nine month mark) and a year later Mia II Andrew decided that was a good a place as any to declare _The End. _

He couldn't help thinking – _finally._

**X-X**

**Urgh, I can't say how annoyed I am with this chapter but I've edited and re-edited and changed and re-changed and just decided to post it anyway, even if I loathe it. **

**I know the romantic comparisons are really random but I haven't actually read much romance so it just kind of ended up as a weird combination of Shakespeare, Austen, Fairy Tales/Myths and an obscure story no one's heard of. **

**On that note if anyone has actually read (or seen as a few have been turned into movies) all seven story couples referenced above I'll – a) be seriously impressed and b) Give you, a uh...special prize...?**

_***Thinks frantically about what special prize she could send online* **_

**Anyway, follow the little lines to that *Review* button below**

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**Look! Here it is! **


	3. Chapter 3: Rory and Jess

**X-X**

_Instant Sparks, Instant Connection:_

Andrew didn't witness Rory and Jess's first meeting but their second.

He was closing up the store when he glimpsed them across the town square. For a moment he was concerned: Jess already had an infamous reputation and – like everyone in Stars Hollow – Andrew was fiercely protective of Rory.

Then he saw the book in Jess's hands and felt idiotic. No kindred reader could be as bad as the town made the stormy eyed newcomer seem.

Rory clearly agreed as they bantered together, parting with smiles and the shift he felt six years before swept through him and shuddered the stale air.

This time though, the connection they shared was obvious: Rory and Jess weren't just_ like_ romantic couples, they experienced firsthand the literature that held life together.

Thousands of romances – Scarlet and Rhett, Catherine and Heathcliffe, Arthur and Guinevere, Anthony and Cleopatra, Marius and Cosette – formed their minds and perspectives.

They couldn't hope to stay apart.

**X-X**

_A Build Up:_

In contrast to the Luke and Lorelai, Stars Hollow was wary of Rory and Jess's friendship.

It wasn't right, they said: Rory already had a boyfriend – sweet, fit-to-the-mould Dean. Why would she be interested in someone so _different_, when her perfect match was right there?

Andrew didn't say much but all the while he was thinking: _Maybe love isn't as simple as we make out. _

After all, people must have questioned Maid Marian's choice to run off with an outlaw. Wouldn't it have been _simpler _to marry one of her proper suitors?

Yes, but that story wouldn't have gone down in legend.

Because Jess if was like his Uncle, he would bide his time and build a relationship on the foundation of friendship first. He would watch Dean as Luke had watched so many other men and _wait._

**X-X**

_Momentary Bliss: _

Andrew only caught snippets of Rory and Jess's relationship at first: them browsing in the bookshop, talking for hours on the bridge, sharing kisses in the town square.

But like their uncle and mother there was a All-In abandon to the relationship.

For the first time he saw Rory slip away from the towns expectations and Jess open up his world-weary mask.

So much was against them but for a short while Andrew felt it wouldn't have mattered if they'd been cut off from the rest of the world – as long as they were together.

(It sounded so cliché but then, wasn't romance always cliché?)

It was more frantic than Luke and Lorelai's relationship though – more desperate. As if even from the beginning the two _knew _that time was against them. As Callum and Sephy so simply put it: _"Love was like an avalanche...only instead of running away from it, we kept running straight towards it." _

They did not attempt to flee but clung fiercely to each other with the few months they were given: the separation was inevitable after all.

**X-X**

_Differences:_

He hated to admit it but Stars Hollow helped tear them apart.

It wasn't deliberate but they stuck labels on them: If Dean was Prince Charming and Rory a Damsel-in-Distress Princess, then Jess was the Villain

And as everyone pointed out – Princesses _never_ belong with Villain; Fairy Tales don't work that way.

(Privately, he wondered about Beauty and the Beast. Did no one – Taylor, Babette, Miss Patty – remember the story of the cursed, lonely man and the book-reading woman who taught him to love again? Couldn't anyone see the parallel and try to understand?)

No. Instead they shoved Jess's rough edges under a spotlight and gazed at Rory in disappointment for trying to smooth them.

The pair never had a chance.

**X-X**

_Break Up:_

Despite his irritation with Taylor & Co, Andrew felt that – unlike Luke and Lorelai – Rory and Jess's break up was necessary.

They weren't ready: he had to learn to care about others opinions and she had to learn not to. After all didn't Aragorn and Arwen – destined to be together from the start – have to wait while Aragorn went into the wild, found himself and saved the world?

It was painful of course, and people happily said '_I told you so' _when the messy situation was over.

He resisted saying it had barely begun.

**X-X**

_Separation: _

In contrast to what their Mum and Uncle would go through, Rory and Jess dealt with the pain by yearning from a distance.

While Lorelai would be haunted by a physical, solid reminder of what she lost, Rory suffered the ache of a severed limb: part of her was torn away completely, leaving a ghostly wound behind.

Andrew never told her he saw it. She tried to convince everyone the wound had healed over: just a quickly fading scar from a high school boyfriend but he knew differently.

Mere high school boyfriends weren't inspired to rebuild their lives because of a six month relationship or cling to their love for years after the break up. (He heard those details through Miss Paddy and Babette).

Nor did they inspire old girlfriends to return to college in one conversation or drive hours for one aborted kiss. (That information he heard in a conversation between Lane and Rory).

_Classic,_ he thought: two souls, separated by distance, all ties apparently snapped but somehow always circling back to each other. Like Will and Lyra: trapped in different worlds, roaming across the universe but living for each other, one day to be reunited.

**X-X**

_Reunion: _

The resurfacing of Jess and Rory's friendship was unknown to most of Stars Hollow.

In the 'chat' to Lane, Andrew overheard, Rory had relayed her meetings with Jess and how spiteful Logan had been. That image made him laugh: Jess wouldn't be put off by Rory having another boyfriend, he'd been there before. That self-assured Huntzberger had no idea how much history he walked into with those two – it was like the ocean tide trying to wash away rocks on the beach.

As if to prove it they kept up email correspondence in her final year at Yale, she visited him in Philadelphia while on campaign and (of course) they met at Luke and Lorelai's wedding.

He could tell it was awkward for them, playing the role of Best Man and Maid of Honour but a couple of hours after the rehearsal dinner he came across the two of them at the bridge.

Although he _tried _not to eavesdrop (really), he still heard their quiet voices across the water; murmuring about 'ignoring you that summer', 'swans, 'Kyle's' 'running out,' 'that No' 'the kiss' and finally 'sorry'.

He thought of Jane and Rochester: finally clearing away the past and reaching the end of their enforced exile from each other.

Their steps at the wedding were lighter than he'd seen for years.

**X-X**

_Happily-Ever-After: _

Thankfully Rory and Jess reached their story tale ending pretty quickly. From what Andrew heard the two got together a while after the wedding, pulling long distance because she was still travelling a lot.

He only saw them sporadically: they were young and busy and ambitious, appearing briefly for the births of their siblings/cousins and to see Luke and Lorelai's new house. (Rory was given the Crap Shack for whenever she was in town).

However when Mia II was about one and William II two, Jess opened up a Truncheon branch in Hartford. (His new book had been popular and brought in actual profit). By coincidence (or was fate finally lending them a hand? The naive idealist in Andrew hoped so,) Rory landed a job with the Hartford Courant at the same time. She wanted a more stable post after three years of various on-the-road writing.

They moved in together and well – Andrew wasn't so naive not to see where that was heading.

They got married on their bridge in Stars Hollow. Thankfully Kirk didn't knock anyone in the water when bridesmaids Mia II, April, Paris and Emily filed up the narrow aisle, followed by Maid of Honour Lane and finally Rory and Lorelai as the bride and 'father'. (Luke was waiting with Jess, though it got complicated when he made the father of the bride_ and_ the best man speech at the reception).

The couple was around more after that and three years after the wedding Lorelai IV appeared and two years later – Luke II.

(Personally Andrew never got the appeal of kids but they were necessary for the perfect picture so he put up with them: real romance did have some drawbacks).

**X-X**

But now – as the four children and their parents run riot through his store – he looks round at the books and laughs.

Because if reality has one thing over literature it's that happily-ever-afters go further than the final page.

**X-X**

**Finis! **

**I hope that was enjoyable. There were more modern couples in this chapter but it was just what fitted Rory and Jess. In the 'Differences' part I know Beauty and the Beast sounded like the Disney version which isn't technically literature but I wasn't referring specifically to the movie. 'Beauty' is often depicted as a bookworm, for instance in Robin McKinley's Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast. But in any case I really liked that parallel and I think Rory and Jess have a lot of similarities with the fairy tale.**

**Oh, and Ace of Gallifrey – I hope you got the (very brief) shout out in there!**


End file.
